SB 970 and HB 7181 Mark a Return of the Drug War, With a Paywall

By, CT CannaTimes - 5.13.2025

Connecticut lawmakers are quietly advancing a pair of cannabis enforcement bills — SB 970 and HB 7181 — that threaten to turn the clock back on years of hard-fought progress toward equity, access, and justice for patients and consumers.

Together, these bills prioritize policing and punishment over public health, community reinvestment, or real reform — and they’re doing it for a price.

Enforcement Over Access: What SB 970 Does

Senate Bill 970 (Amended by LCO 8166) looks like a bill about hemp. But tucked inside are troubling signs of an enforcement-heavy approach funded by new fees and penalties:

• $1 tax per infused beverage container, paid by consumers and funneled straight to the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) Enforcement Account.
• New annual fees ($375) for businesses operating as commercial extractors or out-of-state edible sellers — again, feeding enforcement budgets.
• A reduction in hemp certificate fees (from $2,000 to $800), possibly to incentivize registration and trap smaller actors into stricter oversight.

This bill doesn’t expand freedom. It expands control — and uses a beverage tax to build an enforcement war chest.

HB 7181: Weaponizing the Law Against Citizens

Meanwhile, HB 7181 — a sweeping enforcement bill already known as “The Drug War 2.0” — empowers DCP to fine, punish, and even criminally charge cannabis consumers and small operators with virtually no due process:

• It creates new civil penalties for gifting and small-scale sales.
• It lets DCP issue cease-and-desist orders with no court review.
• It revives surveillance and seizure powers with no guarantee of a jury trial.

Critics say HB 7181 essentially criminalizes non-corporate cannabis — the same kind of community-based sharing and small growing that the law was supposed to protect. Legal language is so vague that even lawful possession and homegrow could fall under suspicion.

And where’s the money coming from?

HB 6863, passed earlier this year, redirected state cannabis equity funds into the Cannabis Regulation and Enforcement Account — the very fund backing HB 7181’s crackdown.

That means money meant for equity, inclusion, and community repair is now being used to fund raids, fines, and seizures.

CT More Regressive Than Texas?

Texas, while hardly known for cannabis freedom, at least allows local decriminalization, tolerates low-THC dispensaries, and hasn’t built a massive state-run enforcement bureaucracy like Connecticut’s DCP.

By contrast, Connecticut:

• Criminalizes gifting and non-commercial exchange.
• Taxes infused beverages like sin products.
• Prioritizes enforcement revenue over public good.
• Uses corporate licensing fees and product penalties to fund punitive agencies.

Conclusion: Stop Funding Oppression

CT’s cannabis program has gone from a symbol of progress to a pay-to-play system that criminalizes the poor, targets patients, and siphons equity funds into regulatory war machines.

SB 970 and HB 7181 are not about safety. They are about power, profit, and punishment.

#LegalizeDon’tCriminalize